Songs Of Conquest: Arleon Strategy Guide

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Arleon Units

Arleon Strategy

Arleon Wielders

Recommended Build Order

Arleon is Songs Of Conquest's knightly faction, sending feudal levies into battle bolstered by the rousing songs of troubadours. They are also able to call upon ancient pacts with the Faey, providing much-needed melee power that peasants just can't provide. If you prefer a hammer-and-anvil strategy in combat, Arleon might be the faction for you.

Arleon Wielders are often somewhat limited in their choice of spells, but the ones they can cast reliably are perfectly suited to the faction's play style. Whether you're pelting the enemy with an endless hail of arrows or rampaging through their lines with the Horned Ones, playing as Arleon ensures that Stoutheart will stand.

Songs Of Conquest is currently in early access, so the contents of this guide are subject to change as the game is developed.

Arleon Units

Arleon's units are mostly Human, but three of their troop types are Faey. Unless you start with a Wielder who specializes in one or the other (Lady Hammond for Humans and Gnaw for Faey), you can safely mix and match them until the late game. At that point, you'll probably want to pick one and research as many upgrades as possible for your chosen specialization.

Except for Minstrels and their upgraded version, Troubadours, Human troops provide Order Essence in combat. Faey, on the other hand, provide Chaos Essence. This means that Human armies will generally have ready access to defensive buffs, while Faey armies will have more mobility and damage potential. In either case, it's usually worth bringing Minstrels and Troubadours along for their songs, which provide army-wide defense bonuses, and for the Creation Essence that they offer.

Human Troops

Unit	Recruited From	Upgrades To	Upgrade Ability	Essence	Notes
Militia	Peasant Hut	Sappers	Deploy stakes, creating an obstacle on the battlefield	1x Order	Weak, but a high unit size limit allows strength in numbers. Cannot attack the turn after firing their crossbow, but can still move.
Footmen	Barracks	Shield Of Order	Grant adjacent friendly units +25 Defense	2x Order	Defense-oriented frontline troop. Much more durable than most other Arleon units.
Rangers	Barracks	Archers	Can set overwatch, attacking the first enemy to enter Deadly Range.	1x Order	Long-range damage dealer.
Minstrels	Tavern	Troubadours	Doubles the benefit of songs.	1x Chaos 1x Creation	Decent light melee unit. Can sing instead of attacking by clicking the note under the unit. Songs increase your entire army's Defense.
Knights	Castle	Fists Of Order	Grant all adjacent units a bonus to Offense and Damage.	1x Order 1x Chaos	Elite mobile damage dealer. Gets a +10 Melee Offense bonus for every tile they move before attacking. Fits well in both Human and Faey armies.

Faey Troops

Unit	Recruited From	Upgrades To	Upgrade Ability	Essence	Notes
Faey Spirits	Faey Grove	Faey Ragers	Attack twice per turn. Can delay their turn until later in the round.	2x Chaos	Fragile, but fast and hard-hitting.
Horned Ones	Faey Grove	Queen's Guards	Enter a defensive stance for +30 Defense.	1x Chaos	Slow but powerful. Gets increased Movement and Damage when hit, but loses a large amount of Defense.
Faey Nobles	Faey Court	Faey Queens	Attack multiple enemies at random. Produce an additional Creation Essence	1x Chaos 1x Creation	Durable ranged unit. Buffs Offense and Initiative of adjacent allies, making them useful as the center of a bow-line.

Arleon Strategy

Without plenty of buffs from Order spells or a defensively-oriented Wielder, Arleon's troops tend to be fragile. The exception are their Footmen, who are able to resist ranged attacks and have a higher overall Defense than their companions. For this reason, most Arleon wielders will want at least one unit of Footmen or Shields Of Order in their army to hold the line and protect their ranged units. In the late game, Wielders with additional unit slots might consider a second unit to contend with larger enemy forces.

Minstrels may not be the best in combat, but their real strength lies in the support they bring to the field. Not only can they further enhance Footmen with their songs of valor, but they also provide Creation Essence. Unless you're using a Wielder who specializes in Creation spells, such as Peradine, you'll want to use this extra Essence to cast Earth Block, creating choke points to protect your flanks. Clouded Vision is another useful spell for Arleon, as it partially neutralizes enemy ranged units and allows your Rangers to dominate the battlefield.

Arleon Wielders

Matching Wielders with skills and units that complement their natural abilities is a key component of any strategy. This is especially true for Arleon players, who typically need to choose between Human and Faey troops.

Wielder	Starting Stats	Starting Troops	Starting Skill	Specialization	Recommended Units
Cecilia Stoutheart	Offense 5 Defense 10 Movement 12 Vision 7 Command 3	5x Footmen 5x Rangers	Guard	Gain one additional Order Essence each combat round.	All Human Troops
Ethylle-Ernaline	Offense 10 Defense 5 Movement 12 Vision 7 Command 3	4x Faey Spirits 4x Faey Spirits	Channeling	Spells deal forty percent more damage.	All Faey Troops Minstrels
Giandra Stormspire	Offense 10 Defense 5 Movement 12 Vision 7 Command 3	3x Faey Spirits 3x Faey Spirits 1x Horned Ones	Chaos	Gain one additional Chaos Essence each combat round.	All Faey Troops Militia
Gnaw, Highchief of Faey	Offense 15 Defense 5 Movement 12 Vision 7 Command 3	3x Horned Ones	Melee	All Faey troops under Gnaw's command gain +20 Melee and Ranged Offense.	All Faey Troops Militia Minstrels
Lady Elisa Hammond	Offense 5 Defense 10 Movement 12 Vision 7 Command 3	10x Militia 10x Militia	Cunning	All Human troops under Hammond's command gain +20 Defense.	All Human Troops
Peradine	Offense 5 Defense 5 Movement 13 Vision 8 Command 3	10x Rangers	March	Gain one additional Creation Essence at the start of each combat round.	Minstrels Footmen Rangers Faey Nobles
Ravenfayre	Offense 10 Defense 0 Movement 13 Vision 8 Command 3	7x Minstrels 5x Rangers	Archery	All units under Ravenfayre's command gain +15 Ranged Offense.	Militia Rangers Footmen Faey Nobles
Baron Silverlink	Offense 5 Defense 10 Movement 12 Vision 7 Command 3	2x Militia 3x Rangers 9x Minstrels	Taxes	All units under Silverlink's command can move one additional space per turn.	Militia Knights Faey Spirits
Vilja Of Thornecliffe	Offense 5 Defense 5 Movement 13 Vision 8 Command 3	10x Militia 5x Rangers	Prepared	All units under Vilja's command take forty percent less damage from spells.	Militia Knights Footmen

Recommended Build Order

When you start a new game as Arleon, in most cases you'll want to get a Barracks up and running as soon as possible. This allows you to recruit all-important Footmen. Start by constructing a Lumber Mill in a small building site on the first turn – this is a requirement for the Barracks. If there isn't sufficient Stone in your starting area, you can use the second slot for a Quarry, but a Tavern or Peasant Hunt would be a better use of the land.

Once your Barracks is ready, build toward the units that best serve your starting Wielder. If you're playing a Faey-focused Wielder like Gnaw or Ethylle, resist the temptation to skip the Barracks in favor of a Faey Grove, even if you have the necessary Glimmerweave to do it. Faey Spirits are too fragile and Horned ones too slow to recruit for them to form the cornerstone of your army at this stage of the game.

Once you've unlocked a large building site, your choice for construction there will be based on your overall strategy. If you're focused of Faey units or a ranged-heavy approach, build the Faey Court; Faey Nobles will bolster either of these army types, and you can also research upgrades for your Faey units from here. If you're using a more traditional Footmen-based army, construct the Grand Armory instead to enhance your human soldiers.

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